Scheme for determining the locations and timing of advertisements and other insertions in media

ABSTRACT

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium stores one or more computer programs adapted to cause a processor based system to execute steps that include analyzing an image, identifying one or more faces in the image using a face recognition technique, designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a first area of interest, and determining whether an insertion area exists in the image where additional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area of interest. Another computer program is adapted to cause a processor based system to execute steps that include determining whether the insertion area can be divided into two or more regions based on color. Methods and processor based apparatuses that perform one or more of these steps are also disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/891,095, filed on May 9, 2013, entitled “SCHEMEFOR DETERMINING THE LOCATIONS AND TIMING OF ADVERTISEMENTS AND OTHERINSERTIONS IN MEDIA,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/689,982, filed on Mar. 22, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.8,451,380, entitled “SCHEME FOR DETERMINING THE LOCATIONS AND TIMING OFADVERTISEMENTS AND OTHER INSERTIONS IN MEDIA,” the entire disclosures ofwhich are both hereby fully incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to digital video processing, andmore specifically to digital insertion of images and video in programcontent.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

One traditional form of advertising is the television commercial. Suchtelevision commercials typically consist of brief advertising spots thatrange in length from a few seconds to several minutes. The commercialsappear between shows and interrupt the shows at regular intervals. Thegoal of advertisers is to keep the viewer's attention focused on thecommercial, but often times the viewer will change the channel duringthe commercial to avoid watching the commercial.

Another way that viewers have avoided television commercials is by usingdigital video recorders (DVRs). With a DVR a person can record a showand then fast forward through the commercials during playback. Othermedia players are expected to provide viewers with even greater abilityto track and skip commercials.

It is with respect to these and other background information factors,including the growth and popularity of user-created video services suchas YouTube®, and the need to insert advertising in such media, that thepresent invention has evolved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment provides a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing one or more computer programs adapted to cause aprocessor based system to execute steps comprising: analyzing an image;identifying one or more faces in the image using a face recognitiontechnique; designating at least one of the identified faces collectivelyas a first area of interest; and determining whether an insertion areaexists in the image where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest.

Another embodiment provides a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing one or more computer programs adapted to cause aprocessor based system to execute steps comprising: analyzing a sequenceof frames of content; identifying a first area of interest in a scenedepicted by the sequence of frames that should not be obstructed frombeing viewed; determining whether an insertion area exists in the scenewhere additional content can be inserted without obstructing the firstarea of interest; and determining whether the insertion area can bedivided into two or more regions based on color.

Another embodiment provides a method, comprising: analyzing a firstsequence of frames of content; identifying one or more faces in a scenedepicted by the first sequence of frames using a face recognitiontechnique; designating at least one of the identified faces collectivelyas a first area of interest; and determining whether an insertion areaexists in the scene where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest.

Another embodiment provides a method, comprising: analyzing a sequenceof frames of content; identifying a first area of interest in a scenedepicted by the sequence of frames that should not be obstructed frombeing viewed; determining whether an insertion area exists in the scenewhere additional content can be inserted without obstructing the firstarea of interest; and determining whether the insertion area can bedivided into two or more regions based on color.

Another embodiment provides a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing one or more computer programs adapted to cause aprocessor based system to execute steps comprising: playing a firstsequence of frames, wherein the first sequence of frames includes anadvertisement inserted into a scene depicted by at least some of theframes in the first sequence of frames; and playing a second sequence offrames after the first sequence of frames; wherein the advertisement wasinserted into the scene in the first sequence of frames by a processthat includes, identifying one or more faces in the scene using a facerecognition technique; designating at least one of the identified facescollectively as a first area of interest; and inserting theadvertisement into an insertion area in the scene that does not obstructthe first area of interest.

Another embodiment provides a method for use with content, comprising:analyzing a sequence of frames of the content; determining whether anarea exists in a scene depicted by the sequence of frames whereadditional content can be inserted without obstructing activity in thescene; for any such area, determining an amount of time that the area isavailable when the sequence of frames is being played; and for any sucharea, determining a size of the area.

Another embodiment provides a storage medium storing a computer programexecutable by a processor based system, the computer program causing theprocessor based system to execute steps comprising: analyzing a sequenceof frames of content; determining whether an area exists in a scenedepicted by the sequence of frames where additional content can beinserted without obstructing activity in the scene; for any such area,determining an amount of time that the area is available when thesequence of frames is being played; and for any such area, determining asize of the area.

Another embodiment provides an apparatus for use with content,comprising: a processor based system that is configured to analyze asequence of frames of the content and determine whether an area existsin a scene depicted by the sequence of frames where additional contentcan be inserted without obstructing activity in the scene; wherein forany such area, the processor based system is further configured todetermine an amount of time that the area is available when the sequenceof frames is being played and determine a size of the area.

A better understanding of the features and advantages of variousembodiments of the present invention will be obtained by reference tothe following detailed description and accompanying drawings which setforth an illustrative embodiment in which principles of embodiments ofthe invention are utilized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of embodiments ofthe present invention will be more apparent from the following moreparticular description thereof, presented in conjunction with thefollowing drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for use with content inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are screen shots illustrating an example application ofthe method of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are screen shots illustrating another exampleapplication of the method of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for use with content inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A, 5C, and 5D are screen shots, and FIG. 5B is a sizing andthreshold setting diagram, all illustrating an example application ofthe method of FIG. 4 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are screen shots illustrating another exampleapplication of the method of FIG. 4 in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for use with content inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G, and 8H are screen shots illustratingan example application of the method of FIG. 7 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram illustrating a method for use with content inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a processor based system thatmay be used to run, implement and/or execute the methods and/ortechniques shown and described herein in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

When viewers avoid traditional television commercials as describedabove, the advertisers' messages are not received by the viewers, whichis disadvantageous.

Because of such disadvantages, embodiments of the present inventionrelate to the insertion of advertisements or other content into thetelevision show or other program itself.

Some of the embodiments of the present invention involve an automatedmethod for determining the timing and position of advertisements orother insertions to be placed in content. Such content may include anytype of content, such as for example television shows, movies, videos,web pages, games, etc. In some embodiments, the method may operate byanalyzing a sequence of video frames over time to determine clean,uncluttered, or other areas or regions in the media where the activityin the scene is not obstructed by a zone occupied by an advertisementoverlay.

For example, referring to FIG. 1 there is illustrated a method 100 thatoperates in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Themethod 100, which may be used with any type of content, begins in step102 in which a sequence of frames of the content is analyzed. By way ofexample, video analysis of the sequence of video frames may be used todetermine appropriate locations to deposit advertisements or othergraphics into the media. In some embodiments, such analysis may beautomatically conducted on a frame-by-frame basis.

In step 104, it is determined whether an area exists in a scene depictedby the sequence of frames where additional content can be insertedwithout obstructing activity in the scene. In some embodiments this maybe done by going through the video frame-by-frame to identify wheremovement is happening or regions of voids. For example, there may bepeople and action happening on one side of the screen, but no movementon the other side of screen. The area of no movement may be anappropriate place to insert an advertisement or other additionalcontent.

In step 106, for any area identified as appropriate for receivingadditional content, the amount of time that the area is available whenthe sequence of frames is being played is determined. And in step 108,the size of any identified area is determined. As such, a systemimplementing this method may determine whether or not the region of noactivity is large enough to fit an advertisement.

The method 100 may be performed automatically by any type of computer orprocessor based system. Such a system may conduct a frame-by-frameanalysis over time to track the action in the scenes and mark the blocksof video that are appropriate for the insertion of advertisements orother images or content. In some embodiments, the frame-by-frameanalysis may be conducted by image analysis software.

Thus, in some embodiments a system looks at the frames in the video andidentifies the locations in the video where there is activity and wherethere is no activity. In a simple scenario the camera is fixed and theactors are moving. That is, the sequence of frames comprises arepresentation of video shot by a fixed camera. In a more complexscenario, the camera is moving or panning across the scene, whichincludes fixed objects, as well as moving objects. That is, the sequenceof frames comprises a representation of video shot by a moving camera.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example of the fixed camera scenario. In thisexample the frame boarder 202 represents each frame in the sequence offrames because the camera is fixed. If two children 204, 206 are playingwith a soccer ball 208 on the right side of the screen, an advertisementmay be placed on the other side of the screen so as not to obstruct theview of the children playing with the soccer ball. This way, anadvertisement may be deposited in the scene so as not to obstruct a viewof the moving objects or activity, i.e. the children 204, 206 playingwith the ball 208.

FIG. 2B illustrates an advertisement 212 for “Best Soda” that has beeninserted into the scene. Because the two children 204, 206 are playingwith the soccer ball 208 are still visible, the activity in connectionwith the focus of the video has not be obstructed by the advertisement212. That is, the primary or target or moving objects in the scene arenot obstructed by the advertisement 212.

In some embodiments, in analyzing the frames the system may mark a frameor part of a frame as not able to receive an advertisement because thereis too much movement. Such frames or portions of frames may be referredto herein as too “dirty.” Thus, in the present example the system mayblock out the portions of the frames associated with the children 204,206 playing with the soccer ball 208 so that those spaces are not usedfor the placement of advertisements or other insertions.

As another example, all of the actors and movement in a certain scenemay be located on the left side of the screen. As such, the system mayblock out the portions of the frames corresponding to the actors on theleft side of the screen and may indicate that advertisements cannot beplaced there. That is, advertisements cannot be placed on the left sideof the screen because there are people moving and things are happeningon the left side of the screen. Meanwhile, however, the right side ofthe screen may be clean, and it may have been clean for a certain periodof time that may be sufficient for the placing of an advertisement.

In some embodiments, scenes may contain metadata that characterizeinformation about the frames and including the history and momentum ofobjects moving in the frames, and some embodiments of the presentinvention may utilize such metadata to determine the potential regionsin which content, including advertisements, may be placed in the scene.

In some embodiments, the step of determining if a frame is “dirty” or ifa frame region is “dirty” may be performed by analyzing the frame dataacross one or more frames. Fixed or variable thresholds may be used inthe determination of objects of interest and regions of interest. Insome embodiments the system may also encode or create metadata asmentioned above for enabling playback system insertion of content.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of the moving camera scenario. In thisexample the frame boarders 302, 304, 306 represent three of the framesin the sequence of frames as the camera moves. Because the camera ismoving or panning across the scene, a fixed object such as a trash can308 will appear to be slowly sliding over the background of the scene.The trash can 308 has this appearance because it is positioned towardthe right side of frame 302, near the center of frame 304, and thentowards the left side of frame 306. With the camera slowly panningacross the set, and the objects in the scene are fixed on the set, eachframe looks dirty because there is constant movement.

However, by reviewing the frames of the video, the system may determinethat the camera is moving, the people within the scene are moving, butthat the trash can 308 is fixed. As such, a space on the trash can 308may be free to use for an advertisement or other image or graphicsbecause the trash can itself is largely fixed.

FIG. 3B illustrates an advertisement 312 for “Town Realty” that has beeninserted into the scene on the trash can 308. In this example, the trashcan 308 comprises an area in the scene where additional content can beinserted without obstructing activity in the scene. Thus, in someembodiments in the scenario where the camera is moving or panning, thesystem may identify the fixed objects, and then identify how anadvertisement may be overlaid onto the fixed objects. In someembodiments, this may be done by moving a fulcrum along the frame tofilter out the fixed objects from the moving objects. Namely, the systemmay slide the point of perspective as to where the reference elementsare located within a frame so that the camera movements can be filteredout from the actual actors moving in the scene.

As mentioned above, the method 100 (FIG. 1) includes step 106 fordetermining the amount of time that the area is available when thesequence of frames is being played, and step 108 for determining thesize of the area. For example, a system may determine that the rightside of the screen may be free for a certain amount of time, and it maybe free to a certain dimension for that amount time. This informationmay be important for choosing an advertisement because that dimensionmay be capable of taking an advertisement with a certain maximum size.And furthermore, that dimension may only be available for a certainamount of time, such as for example 2, 5, 15, 20, etc. seconds.

In some embodiments, the system may search the frames in the sequence offrames for a large enough region or space to hold an advertisement of acertain size. The system may also search for a long enough length oftime in the video to place a certain advertisement. For example, acertain advertisement may need 15 seconds of free and clear region forplacement of the advertisement. The system may do this by determininghow long each empty region in the video will last.

In some embodiments, the system may use the determined time and sizeinformation to look across a database of advertisements and select anadvertisement that is appropriate for the available dimensions andavailable amount of time. Thus, in some embodiments there is a profilingof video sequences, and then there is a database look-up for anadvertisement based on how much time and space is available for theadvertisement. For example, in some embodiments a system may determinehow much time is available in the video for an occlusion free zone.Then, the database look-up determines whether or not the size ofocclusion free zone and the time available meet the requirements for anyadvertisements that are in the database.

Other factors may or may not be used in choosing the specificadvertisement. For example, in some embodiments, the system may simplychoose the next advertisement that meets the maximum time available andmaximum size available.

Or, in some embodiments the system may choose an advertisement thatmaximizes the revenue that can be generated from selling theadvertisement space. Various different sizes and types of advertisementsmay maximize the dollar return for the available advertisement space.For example, maximum revenue may be generated by filling the space withseveral smaller advertisements, or filling the space with one largeadvertisement. In some embodiments, the system may analyze the space andtime available to maximize the dollar revenue based upon thosespecifications.

In some embodiments, the system may use methods for ordering theselection of the advertisements to meet economic business models. Forexample, the system may use a priority scheme for selecting theadvertisements. As another example, several small advertisements may beused to optimize the available space, which may generate more revenuethan one large advertisement. With any such scenario the system maystill determine whether or not the next chosen advertisement meets thedetermined time and size specifications.

Therefore, embodiments of the present invention provide methods fordetermining the location and timing of advertisements and other contentplaced in media. Embodiments of the present invention may be used toautomatically find blank spaces or voids in video into whichadvertisements or other content may be inserted. That is, a video may berun through a process according to an embodiment of the presentintention to automatically find the blank spaces or voids in the videointo which advertisements may be inserted. For example, a ten secondclip of video may include two seconds of blank or black screen. In thisexample, the whole screen may be available for an advertisement for twoseconds. Thus, twenty-percent of the ten second video may be populatedwith advertisements or other content.

It should be well understood that other types of content and not justadvertisements may be inserted into the blank spaces or voids. Forexample, other type of graphics, images, pictures, etc. may comprise theadditional content that may be inserted into the areas where additionalcontent can be inserted without obstructing activity in the scene.

Therefore, in some embodiments, a method for use with content includesanalyzing a sequence of frames of the content, determining whether anarea exists in a scene depicted by the sequence of frames whereadditional content such as advertising can be inserted withoutobstructing activity in the scene, for any such area, determining anamount of time that the area is available when the sequence of frames isbeing played, and for any such area, determining a size of the area. Insome embodiments, a storage medium storing a computer program forcausing a processor based system to execute these steps, and anapparatus for use with content, are also disclosed.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is illustrated an example of a method 400that operates in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention. In some embodiments, the method 400 may be used fordetermining the location and timing of additional content, such asadvertisements, that is to be inserted into media. In some embodiments,the method 400 uses face recognition techniques in order to assist indetermining the location of an insertion area for the additionalcontent.

The method 400 begins in step 402 in which an image is analyzed. Theimage may be a still photograph or picture, or be one frame in asequence of frames, such as one frame of video type content.

In step 404 one or more faces are identified in the image using a facerecognition technique or face recognition technology. Any one or moreknown face recognition techniques may be used. In some embodiments, thefaces that are identified may comprise human faces. In some embodiments,the faces that are identified may comprise animal and/or human faces.

In step 406 at least one of the identified faces is designated as afirst area of interest. In some embodiments, the designation as a firstarea of interest means that this is an area that a viewer would likelybe interested in seeing, and so the area should not be obstructed by theadditional content that will be inserted. In some embodiments, if morethan one of the identified faces is designated as the first area ofinterest, then the identified faces collectively comprise the first areaof interest. That is, an area that encompasses all of the identifiedfaces is designated as the first area of interest.

In some embodiments, the designation of one or more faces as a firstarea of interest is similar to the above discussion of identifying areasin a scene having activity. That is, an area in a scene having activityis an area that a viewer would likely be interested in seeing, and sothe area should preferably not be obstructed by the additional contentthat will be inserted. Similarly, an area in a scene or image having oneor more faces is also an area that a viewer would likely be interestedin seeing, and so the area should preferably not be obstructed by theadditional content that will be inserted. Thus, in some embodiments, theidentified faces may be thought of as a type of activity.

Furthermore, as will be discussed below, in some embodiments anadjustable threshold may be associated with the size, focus, prominence,etc., of the identified faces. The optional adjustable threshold may beused to define which of the identified faces should be included in thefirst area of interest. That is, in some embodiments, the optionaladjustable threshold may be used to determine which of the identifiedfaces rise to the level of a type of activity that should not beobstructed by the additional content that will be inserted. Thus, insome embodiments, the identified faces may be thought of as a type ofactivity if the identified faces meet a threshold setting.

In step 408 a determination is made as the whether an insertion areaexists in the image where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest. That is, in some embodiments adetermination is made as the whether there is an area in the image,referred to herein as an insertion area, where additional content can beinserted without obstructing a view of the first area of interest. Ifsuch an insertion area exists, then in some embodiments additionalcontent, such as for example advertisements, can be inserted into theinsertion area, and such additional content will not obstruct a view ofthe first area of interest.

An example application of the method 400 will now be described withreference being made to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D. Specifically, FIG. 5Aillustrates an image 502 that is analyzed. As illustrated the image 502includes several faces. In some embodiments, a crowd of faces may beanalyzed. One or more face recognition techniques or face recognitiontechnologies are used to identify one or more faces in the image 502.The identified faces have several different sizes. Namely, there aresome large faces 504, some small faces 514, and several faces 506, 508,510, and 512 having various sizes between the largest and smallestfaces.

In some embodiments, the next step is to designate at least one of theidentified faces as a first area of interest. As mentioned above, insome embodiments, the designation as a first area of interest means thatthis is an area that a viewer would likely be interested in seeing, andso the area should not be obstructed by the additional content that willbe inserted. In some embodiments, the size of the faces are used todetermine which of the identified faces should be designated as thefirst area of interest. For example, it is believed that a viewer wouldlikely be more interested in seeing the larger faces in the image thanthe smaller faces. It is further believed that the larger faces werelikely the main subject matter that was intended to be captured in theimage. As such, designating the larger faces as the first area ofinterest means that they will not be obstructed (or covered) by theadditional content, such as one or more advertisements, that will beinserted.

Thus, in some embodiments the step of designating at least one of theidentified faces collectively as the first area of interest includes thestep of determining a size of each of the identified faces. After thesize of each of the identified faces is determined, the identified facesthat are to be included in the first area of interest are then selectedbased on the sizes of the identified faces.

In some embodiments, the process of selecting faces based on the sizesof the identified faces may utilize a threshold setting. Specifically,the optional threshold setting can be set to define the size of theidentified faces that will be included in the first area of interest. Insome embodiments, the optional threshold setting can be used to selectfaces for inclusion in the first area of interest based on whether aface is a certain proportion to other faces. The optional thresholdsetting may define the proportion, which in some embodiments may be setby a user, or may be set by an application, or may be set automatically,or may be set in some other manner.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example of one embodiment of the optionalthreshold setting. In this embodiment the threshold setting represents acertain percentage of the largest one of the identified faces. As such,the process of selecting at least one of the identified faces to beincluded in the first area of interest based on the sizes of theidentified faces may begin with identifying a largest one of theidentified faces. In the illustrated example, the largest one of theidentified faces is the face 504.

In some embodiments, the optional threshold setting may be adjustedusing a threshold slider 520. In this example, the threshold slider 520runs between 0% and 100% of the size of the largest face 504. Asillustrated, in this example, the threshold setting 522 is set to 70%.This means that only the identified faces that are at least as large as70% of the size of the largest face 504 will be included in the firstarea of interest. Thus, in this example, the faces 504 and 506 will beincluded in the first area of interest, and the faces 508, 510, 512, and514 will not be included in the first area of interest. The faces 508,510, 512, and 514 are not included in the first area of interest becausethey are smaller than 70% of the size of the largest face 504. Thus, insome embodiments, it is okay to place additional content over the faces508, 510, 512, and 514 because they are not included in the first areaof interest. That is, the cutoff is any face that is less than 70% ofthe size of the largest face is okay for additional content placement.

Thus, in the illustrated example, the faces that are selected to beincluded in the first area of interest are the largest one of theidentified faces (i.e. face 504) and only the identified faces that arenot smaller than a certain percentage (i.e. 70%) of the largest one ofthe identified faces (i.e. face 506). Basically, if it is a face thatmeets the threshold, then that is akin to the activity in a scenedescribed above and it should not be blocked by additional content, suchas an advertisement. But if a face does not meet the threshold, e.g.maybe a face is only 1/32 the size of the biggest face, then it may beokay to open that space up for the insertion of additional content, suchas advertisement.

FIG. 5C illustrates the image 502 with the first area of interest 524identified. As illustrated, the faces 504 (two of them) and the faces506 (four of them) are included in the first area of interest 524. Theexample threshold setting 522 of 70% is also illustrated. As can beseen, none of the faces 508 (six of them), 510 (eight of them), 512(nine of them), and 514 (eleven of them) are included in the first areaof interest 524 because they are smaller than 70% of the size of thelargest face 504.

It should be well understood that the threshold setting 522 may be setto any value. Namely, the threshold setting 522 may be set to any valuefrom 0% to 100%. For example, if the threshold setting 522 is set to 50%instead of 70%, then according to FIG. 5B the faces 508 (six of them)would also be included in the first area of interest 524. As anotherexample, if the threshold setting 522 is set to 100% instead of 70%,then the only faces that would be included in the first area of interest524 would be the faces 504 (two of them) since they are the same size,are the largest faces, and are not smaller than 100% of the size of thelargest one of the identified faces.

It should also be well understood that the threshold setting 522 may bebased on any measure and does not have to be a percentage. For example,the threshold setting 522 may be based on the diameter, radius,circumference, etc., of the faces. Or, the threshold setting 522 may bebased on any other measure.

It should also be well understood that the threshold setting 522 may beset and/or adjusted in a wide variety of ways. In some embodiments, thethreshold setting 522 may be set and/or adjusted by a user. For example,the threshold setting 522 may be set and/or adjusted manually by a user.Thus, in the illustrated example the certain percentage of the thresholdsetting 522 would be designated by a user. In some embodiments, thethreshold setting 522 may be set and/or adjusted by an application, suchas a software application. For example, the threshold setting 522 may beset and/or adjusted automatically by an application. The automaticsetting and/or adjusting of the threshold setting 522 may be based on awide variety of conditions, parameters, variable, factors, etc.

In some embodiments, after the first area of interest 524 has beendesignated, a determination may be made as the whether an insertion areaexists in the image 502 where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest 524. In some embodiments, anyarea on the image 502 outside of the first area of interest 524 maycomprise an insertion area. For example, in the illustrated embodiment,any area on and around the faces 508, 510, 512, and 514 that does notcover or obstruct the view of any portion of the first area of interest524 may comprise an insertion area.

In some embodiments, the next step is to insert additional content intothe insertion area. FIG. 5D illustrates an example of the insertion ofadditional content into an insertion area in the image 502.Specifically, in this example the additional content comprises anadvertisement 530 for “Action! Sports Apparel”. The advertisement 530 isplaced over some of the faces 508, 510, 512, and 514 and does notobstruct the view of any portion of the first area of interest 524. Itshould also be well understood that the additional content may compriseany type of content and not just advertisements.

In some scenarios an image might not include an insertion area. Forexample, if the first area of interest is large and takes up a largeportion of the image, then a large enough insertion area might not existin the image. FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate such an example. Specifically,an image 602 is illustrated. Using the above described methods andtechniques, the image 602 is analyzed. Several faces 604, 606, 608, and610 are identified using a face recognition technique or facerecognition technology.

In this particular image 602, the identified faces 604, 606, 608, and610 do not differ much in size. Thus, if a first area of interest isdesignated or defined based on the size of the faces, it is possiblethat all the faces 604, 606, 608, and 610 could be included in the firstarea of interest. In some embodiments, this possibility would depend onthe threshold setting. For example, in embodiments that use theabove-described optional threshold setting, if the threshold setting isset to a value such as 50%, then all the faces 604, 606, 608, and 610would be included in the first area of interest. This is because all thefaces 606, 608, and 610 are at least as large as 50% of the size of thelargest face 604. That is, none of the identified faces are smaller than50% of the size of the largest face 604.

FIG. 6B illustrates the first area of interest 620 that has beendesignated in the image 602 in this particular example. As illustrated,all of the faces 604 (four of them), 606 (four of them), 608 (four ofthem), and 610 (four of them) are included in the first area of interest620. And as illustrated, the first area of interest 620 takes up most ofthe space in the image 602. As such, in this particular example theimage 602 does not include an insertion area. Thus, there is no place toinsert additional content, which means that none of the faces will becovered up or obstructed by additional content.

In the above examples, the size of the faces are used to determine whichof the identified faces should be designated as the first area ofinterest. In some embodiments, the amount of focus, or sharpness of thefocus, of the faces may alternatively or additionally be used todetermine which of the identified faces should be designated as thefirst area of interest. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, thedesignation as a first area of interest means that this is an area thata viewer would likely be interested in seeing, and so the area shouldnot be obstructed by the additional content that will be inserted. It isbelieved that a viewer would likely be more interested in seeing thefaces that are more in focus than the faces that are less in focus. Itis further believed that the faces with sharper focus were likely themain subject matter that was intended to be captured in the image. Assuch, designating the faces that are more in focus as the first area ofinterest means that they will not be obstructed (or covered) by theadditional content, such as one or more advertisements, that will beinserted. In some embodiments, the optional threshold setting discussedabove may be used to set the amount of focus, or the sharpness of thefocus, that will qualify a face to be included in the first area ofinterest. Thus, in some embodiments, if a face meets a threshold levelof being in focus, then that is akin to the activity in a scenedescribed above and it should not be blocked by additional content, suchas an advertisement. That is, in some embodiments, faces that meet athreshold level of being in focus are akin to activity in the scene.

In some embodiments the images 502 (FIG. 5A) and 602 (FIG. 6A) may eachcomprise a still photograph or picture. In some embodiments the images502 and 602 may each comprise one frame in a sequence of frames ofcontent. For example, the images 502 and 602 may each comprise one frameof video type content. In such embodiments, a sequence of frames of thecontent may be analyzed using the techniques described above withrespect to FIGS. 5A-5D.

For example, in such embodiments the step of identifying one or morefaces in the image may comprise identifying one or more faces in a scenedepicted by the sequence of frames. And the step of determining whetheran insertion area exists in the image where additional content can beinserted without obstructing the first area of interest may comprisedetermining whether an insertion area exists in the scene whereadditional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area ofinterest.

Furthermore, in some embodiments if an insertion area does exist in thescene depicted by the sequence of frames, then an amount of time thatthe insertion area is available when the sequence of frames is beingplayed may be determined. And in some embodiments, a size of theinsertion area may be determined.

Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated an example of a method 700that operates in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention. In some embodiments, the method 700 may also be used fordetermining the location and timing of additional content, such asadvertisements, that is to be inserted into media.

The method 700 begins in step 702 in which a sequence of frames ofcontent is analyzed. Such content may include any type of content, suchas for example television shows, movies, videos, web pages, games, etc.,or any video type content.

In step 704 a first area of interest in a scene depicted by the sequenceof frames that should not be obstructed from being viewed is identified.In some embodiments, this identification may be made by identifying oneor more faces in the scene using a face recognition technique. Namely,in some embodiments, the technique described above of identifying facesin the scene may be used to identify the first area of interest. In someembodiments, the identification of the first area of interest mayalternatively or additionally be made by identifying areas in the scenehaving activity. Namely, in some embodiments, the technique describedabove of identifying areas in the scene having activity may be used toidentify the first area of interest. In some embodiments, the techniquedescribed above of identifying areas in the scene having no activity maybe used to identify the first area of interest.

In step 706 a determination is made as to whether an insertion areaexists in the scene where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest. That is, similar to as describedabove, in some embodiments a determination is made as the whether thereis an area in the scene, referred to herein as an insertion area, whereadditional content can be inserted without obstructing a view of thefirst area of interest. If such an insertion area exists, then in someembodiments additional content, such as for example advertisements, canbe inserted into the insertion area, and such additional content willnot obstruct a view of the first area of interest.

In step 708 a determination is made as to whether the insertion area canbe divided into two or more regions based on color. Namely, sometimes aninsertion area is identified that spans across two or more regions thatgenerally have different colors. In such a scenario, in someembodiments, it might be preferable to insert the additional contentinto only one of those regions so that the additional content does notcover or extend into two or more regions that have substantiallydifferent colors. Therefore, in some embodiments the insertion area isfurther analyzed and subdivided or broken into one or more regions,sub-regions, or categories based on the colors in the scene.

An example application of the method 700 will now be described withreference being made to FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 8F, 8G, and 8H.Specifically, FIG. 8A illustrates a scene 802 that is depicted by asequence of frames of content. As illustrated the scene 802 includesseveral faces 804 and 806. The scene 802 also includes a green grassyhill 810 behind the faces, and a blue sky 812 above the hill.

In accordance with some embodiments, the sequence of frames of contentthat depict the scene 802 are analyzed. Specifically, a first area ofinterest in the scene 802 that should not be obstructed from beingviewed is identified. As mentioned above, in some embodiments thetechnique described above of identifying faces in the scene may be usedto identify the first area of interest. Specifically, in this exampleone or more face recognition techniques or face recognition technologiesare used to identify the one or more faces 804 and 806 in the scene 802.Referring to FIG. 8B, the result of the face recognition process is thatthe faces 804 and 806 are designated as a first area of interest 820.

Next, a determination is made as to whether an insertion area exists inthe scene 802 where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest 820. The result of thisdetermination is that the area spanning the green grassy hill 810 andthe blue sky 812 are identified as an insertion area 822.

A determination is then made as to whether the insertion area 822 can bedivided into two or more regions based on color. In this particularexample, the insertion area 822 can be divided into two such regions.Namely, the area of the green grassy hill 810 can form a first region ofthe insertion area 822, and the area of blue sky 812 can form a secondregion of the insertion area 822. The identification of these tworegions is based on color, namely, the green hill 810 and the blue sky812. Thus, as illustrated the insertion area 822 is divided into tworegions based on color, namely the area of the green grassy hill 810forming a first region, and the area of the blue sky 812 forming asecond region.

It is believed that inserted additional content has a better appearanceif it does not overlap regions that have different colors. That is, insome embodiments it is believed that the inserted additional contentwill have a better appearance if it does not straddle sub-regions. Forexample, if the inserted additional content is contained within oneregion, then the color and appearance of the inserted additional contentcan more easily be chosen such that it blends well with the region.Namely, the additional content, such as advertisements, can be selectedso that the additional content matches the artistic chromagraphic aspectof the sub-region.

Next, in some embodiments, additional content is inserted into one ofthe two or more regions such that the additional content is completelycontained within the one of the two or more regions. FIG. 8C illustratesthe insertion of additional content into the scene 802. Specifically, inthis example the additional content comprises an advertisement 830 for“Sky Blue Blueberries!” that has been inserted into the second regioncomprising the area of the blue sky 812. As illustrated, theadvertisement 830 is completely contained within the blue sky 812 regionand does not extend beyond that region.

In some embodiments, a buffer area may be maintained between theadditional content and an edge of the one of the two or more regions.That is, the additional content, such as an advertisement, may be placedsuch that it stays within a certain buffer area of that region. Such abuffer area can provide an offset of a certain amount, such as forexample 0.25″, 0.5″, 0.75″, 1″, etc., or any other amount. A buffer areais a type of restricted area that keeps the additional content fromgetting too close to the edges of the region. For example, a buffer areahelps keep an advertisement from being too close to the edge of aregion. Buffer areas may be maintained between all sides of theadditional content and all edges of the region.

As illustrated in the present example, a buffer area 832 is maintainedaround the advertisement 830 so that it does not get too close to theedge of the region. The buffer area 832 may comprise any chosen,selected, predetermined, variable, dynamic, etc., size or amount ofspace. The buffer area 832 may comprise one value or setting forhorizontal edges of the region, and the same or different value orsetting for vertical edges of the region.

In some embodiments, the additional content is selected at least partlybased on the color of the one of the two or more regions. For example,in the illustrated embodiment the advertisement 830 is for “Sky BlueBlueberries!”. Because the blue sky 812 region is blue in color, theadvertisement “Sky Blue Blueberries!” was chosen based on the blue colorbecause it is believed that it might provide an effective advertisement.That is, the idea of blueberries on a blue background might appeal tosome consumers. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the advertisement 830itself could be blue in color, or have some blue color in it, or includesome shades of blue or other colors that go well with blue. Such colorchoices are believed to help the advertisement 830 blend or fit in wellwith the region and make the advertisement look more natural inappearance.

FIG. 8D illustrates another example embodiment where additional contentis inserted into one of the two or more regions such that the additionalcontent is completely contained within the one of the two or moreregions. Specifically, in this example the additional content comprisesan advertisement 840 for “Best Brand Green Beans” that has been insertedinto the first region comprising the area of the green grassy hill 810.As illustrated, the advertisement 840 is completely contained within thegreen grassy hill 810 region and does not extend beyond that region.Furthermore, as illustrated a buffer area 842 is maintained around theadvertisement 840 so that it does not get too close to the edge of theregion. As mentioned above, the buffer area 842 may comprise any chosen,selected, predetermined, variable, dynamic, etc., size or amount ofspace. Furthermore, the buffer area 842 may comprise one value orsetting for horizontal edges of the region, and the same or differentvalue or setting for vertical edges of the region.

In this example, the advertisement 840 is for “Best Brand Green Beans”,which was selected at least partly based on the green color of theregion. Namely, because the green grassy hill 810 region is green incolor, the advertisement “Best Brand Green Beans” was chosen based onthe green color because it is believed that it might provide aneffective advertisement. That is, the idea of green beans on a greenbackground might appeal to some consumers. Furthermore, in someembodiments, the advertisement 840 itself could be green in color, orhave some green color in it, or include some shades of green or othercolors that go well with green. Such color choices are believed to helpthe advertisement 840 blend or fit in well with the region and make theadvertisement look more natural in appearance.

As the camera moves around and the camera view of the scene 802 changes,the sizes of the regions change as well. One option is the keep theadditional content fixed in the region. Thus, in some embodiments, theadditional content is placed so that it is fixed in the one of the twoor more regions in the scene and is not allowed to move in the scene.That is, the additional content is not allowed to float or move when thecamera view changes. FIG. 8E illustrates an example of this feature forthe scene 802. As illustrated the camera view has moved to the left. Theadvertisement 840 is fixed or pinned to the green hillside 810, and whenthe camera moves the advertisement 840 goes off screen. That is, theadvertisement 840 moves partially off the right side of the screenbecause the advertisement 840 is fixed on the green hill 810. Thus, inthis embodiment the advertisement 840 is fixed and does not move withthe camera view.

Another option for camera movement is to let the additional contentfloat so that it stays generally within the buffer areas of the region.Thus, in some embodiments, the additional content is placed so that itis allowed to move within the one of the two or more regions in thescene. That is, the additional content is allowed to float or move whenthe camera view changes. FIG. 8F illustrates an example of this featurefor the scene 802. As illustrated the camera view has moved to the leftby about the same amount as in FIG. 8E. This time the advertisement 840is still fully visible in the scene because it has also moved, orfloated, with the camera movement. That is, in this embodiment theadvertisement 840 did not move off screen when the camera view movedbecause the advertisement is allowed to move, or float, with movementsof the camera view.

Because in this embodiment the advertisement 840 is moving, suchmovement can also include, in some embodiments, maintaining a desiredbuffer area 842 between the advertisement 840 and the edge of the greengrassy hill 810 region. A desired buffer area 842 can be maintainedaround the entire advertisement 840 so that it does not get too close tothe edge of the region. In some embodiments, the size of the buffer area842 is dynamically adjusted to accommodate movement of the advertisement840 with movement of the camera view. For example, the buffer area 842may be adjusted so that the advertisement 840 stays generally within thecenter of the region, but this is not required. As the camera moves, theadvertisement 840 moves with the camera so that the advertisement 840stays on the hillside. The advertisement 840 may be kept centered in theregion or within the buffer area so that the viewer continues to see itas the camera moves.

And yet another option for camera movement in some embodiments is toinitially fix the additional content, and then let it float a little tocatch up with the camera movement. It is believed that this would get aviewer's attention, which could make an inserted advertisement moreeffective.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments a buffer area may be maintainedall the way around an item of additional content. For example, a bufferarea may be maintained between the additional content and horizontaledges of the region, and a buffer area may be maintained between theadditional content and vertical edges of the region. In someembodiments, the size of the buffer areas may be set such that theadditional content is centered within the region. For example, theadditional content may be centered only vertically within the region, orcentered only horizontally within the region, or centered bothvertically and horizontally within the region. It should be wellunderstood, however, that such centering is not required. For example,in some embodiments, the additional content may be positioned closer toany desired edge or edges of the region. Furthermore, in someembodiments, the region may not be rectangular or square in shape. Assuch, buffer areas may be maintained between the additional content andany edges of a region having any shape.

FIGS. 8G and 8H illustrates an example of the use of both horizontal andvertical buffer areas. Specifically, the scene 802 includes the firstarea of interest 820, the insertion area 822, the green grassy hill 810,and the blue sky 812 as described above. However, in this example abrown tree 850 is located on the green grassy hill 810. The brown tree850 overlaps both the first region that comprises the area of the greengrassy hill 810 and the second region that comprises the area of theblue sky 812. The brown tree 850 has the effect of dividing the firstregion that comprises the area of the green grassy hill 810, anddividing the second region that comprises the area of the blue sky 812.That is, the tree 850 has the effect of dividing the first region intotwo smaller regions, and dividing the second region into two smallerregions. The regions are divided because, as discussed above, theregions are defined based on color. As such, the brown tree 850 dividesthe green grassy hill 810, and the brown tree 850 divides the blue sky812.

FIG. 8H illustrates an advertisement 852 that has been inserted into thenow smaller first region comprising the area of the green grassy hill810. As illustrated, the advertisement 852 is completely containedwithin this now smaller region and does not extend beyond that region.Furthermore, as illustrated, buffer areas are maintained all the wayaround the advertisement 852. The buffer areas may be used to controlhow close the advertisement 852 gets to the edges of the region.

Specifically, in this embodiment a buffer area 854 is maintained betweenthe advertisement 852 and the vertical edges of the region. In thisexample, the vertical edges of the region comprise the brown tree 850 onthe left side, and the right edge of the insertion area 822 on the rightside. A buffer area 856 is also maintained between the advertisement 852and the horizontal edges of the region. In this example, the horizontaledges of the region comprise the top of the green grassy hill 810 on theupper side, and the lower edge of the insertion area 822 on the lowerside.

Similar to as mentioned above, the buffer areas 854 and 856 may compriseany chosen, selected, predetermined, variable, dynamic, etc., size oramount of space. In some embodiments, the buffer areas 854 and 856 donot have to have the same setting or value, and they can be controlledtogether or separately. Furthermore, in some embodiments the right andleft components of the vertical buffer area 854 do not have to have thesame setting or value, and they can be controlled together orseparately. Similarly, in some embodiments the upper and lowercomponents of the horizontal buffer area 856 do not have to have thesame setting or value, and they can be controlled together orseparately. In some embodiments, the buffer areas 854 and 856 arecontrolled and/or set manually by a user. In some embodiments, thebuffer areas 854 and 856 are controlled and/or set automatically by anapplication or program.

As described above, in some embodiments, additional content is insertedinto one of the two or more regions such that the additional content iscompletely contained within the one of the two or more regions. Itshould be understood, however, that this is not required by allembodiments. Namely, in some embodiments, additional content does notneed to be completely contained within the one of the two or moreregions and is permitted to extend into, straddle, and/or overlap two ormore regions.

Therefore, there has been described above various embodiments of methodsthat may be used for determining the location and timing of additionalcontent, such as advertisements, that is to be inserted into media. Forexample, in some embodiments someone may shoot a video, which comprisesa sequence of frames of content. A tool that operates in accordance withone or more of the above described methods may be used to analyze thevideo. In some embodiments, a first area of interest is identified inone frame or image in the video, or in a scene depicted by a sequence offrames of the video. The first area of interest may be identified usingthe face recognition techniques described above, and/or by identifyingareas in the scene having activity as described above. In someembodiments, the first area of interest comprises an area that will notbe obstructed from view, or blocked out, by the insertion of additionalcontent, such as one or more advertisements.

In some embodiments, after a first area of interest has been identified,an insertion area is then identified in the image or scene whereadditional content can be inserted without obstructing the first area ofinterest. By inserting additional content, such as an advertisement,into the insertion area, the view of the first area of interest is notobstructed or blocked by the additional content. Thus, in someembodiments, an image or a scene in the video is broken down into afirst area of interest and an insertion area. The insertion area is openfor receiving inserted additional content, such as one or moreadvertisements. In this way, the additional content will not be insertedinto areas having faces that meet a certain threshold and/or that haveactivity. Thus, in some embodiments, face recognition or detection maybe used to identify spaces where advertisements will not be inserted,which possibly opens up the rest of the image or scene for one or moreadvertisements.

In some embodiments, the insertion area is further analyzed to determinewhether it can be divided into two or more regions based on color. Forexample, the open spots in the image or scene may be subdivided based oncolor to create regions. In some embodiments, the additional content,such as an advertisement, is placed so that it is completely within oneregion and does not straddle across the different regions. It isbelieved that such straddling across different regions will make theadditional content look sloppy. It is further believed that theadditional content, such as an advertisement, will look more natural ifit is placed neatly within one color region. Thus, in some embodiments,regions are defined based on color, and the additional content, such asan advertisement, may be selected so that it matches the color of theregion to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

The above described methods may be applied to still photographs,pictures, and images, as well as to moving picture type content, such asa sequence of frames of content, such as in video type content, movies,television, videos, etc. Furthermore, in some embodiments the abovedescribed methods operate in real time. That is, for example in someembodiments, an item of video content may be played for a viewer, andwhile the content is playing and the viewer is watching, one or more ofthe above described steps of identifying a first area of interest,identifying an insertion area, dividing the insertion are into regions,and inserting additional content, may be performed in real time whilethe viewer is watching the content play. Thus, for example in someembodiments, the above described technique of using face recognition todetermine a first area of interest, determining an insertion area,dividing the insertion are into regions, and then inserting additionalcontent, may be performed in real time while the viewer is watching thecontent play.

In contrast, in some embodiments one or more of the above describedmethods operate in non-real time. That is, for example in someembodiments, one or more of the above described steps of identifying afirst area of interest, identifying an insertion area, dividing theinsertion are into regions, and inserting additional content, may beperformed on an item of content before the content is played for aviewer. Or, as another alternative, in some embodiments one or some ofthe above described steps may be performed in non-real time, and one orsome of the steps may be performed in real time. That is, for example insome embodiments, the steps of identifying a first area of interest,identifying an insertion area, and dividing the insertion area intoregions may be performed on an item of content before the content isplayed for a viewer, and then the step of inserting additional content,such as an advertisement, may be performed on the content in real timewhile the viewer is watching the content play. It should be understoodthat any combination of steps may be performed in non-real time and inreal time.

In some embodiments, a user may play and view the content using any typeof processor based apparatus, such as for example any one or more of aset-top box, cable box, entertainment system, game console, computer,television, etc. Any such devices may be connected to an externaldisplay or have an integrated or built-in display. In some embodiments,such a processor based apparatus may receive and play an item of contentthat has been, or will be, processed and/or modified by one or moresteps of the above-described methods and techniques. For example, insome embodiments, such a processor based apparatus may receive and playan item of content that was previously processed and/or modified by oneor more steps of the above-described methods and techniques. Thiscomprises an example where at least one or more of the above steps areperformed in non-real time since the item of content was previouslyprocessed and/or modified by one or more steps of the above-describedmethods and techniques. The previous processing and/or modifying may beperformed by a different processor based apparatus, which may compriseany type of computer, server, workstation, mainframe computer, centralcomputer, etc., or may comprise any one or more of a set-top box, cablebox, entertainment system, game console, computer, television, etc. Or,the previous processing and/or modifying may be performed by the sameprocessor based apparatus.

As another example, in some embodiments, such a processor basedapparatus may receive, process, and play an item of content. That is,the processor based apparatus processes and/or modifies the item ofcontent in real time according to one or more steps of theabove-described methods and techniques. In such a scenario, in someembodiments, the processing may occur in a viewer's home, office, orother location using any one or more of a set-top box, cable box,entertainment system, game console, computer, television, etc.

In some embodiments, a first portion or item of content that has been,or will be, processed or modified using the above described techniques,may be paired with a second portion or item of content when played forone or more viewers. For example, a first portion or item of content, inwhich additional content, such as an advertisement, has been insertedusing the above described techniques, may be paired with a second, orprimary, portion or item of content, and then the two portions ofcontent are played sequentially for one or more viewers.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of such pairing in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Specifically, a time axis 902 isillustrated. A first portion or item of content 904 is followed by asecond portion or item of content 906. The first portion or item ofcontent 904 may comprise a first sequence of frames of content, and thesecond portion or item of content 906 may comprise a second sequence offrames of content. In some embodiments, the first portion or item ofcontent 904 and the second portion or item of content 906 may be part ofthe same item of content, or they may be considered two separate itemsof content. By way of example, the first portion or item of content 904and the second portion or item of content 906 may comprise one or morevideos, movies, television programs, etc. In some embodiments, thesecond portion or item of content 906 comprises an item of main primarycontent, whereas the first portion or item of content 904 comprises agenerally shorter video.

As illustrated, the first portion or item of content 904 has beenmodified using the above described techniques to insert additionalcontent 908 therein. For example, in some embodiments a first area ofinterest may have been identified in the first portion or item ofcontent 904, and then an insertion area identified, and then theadditional content 908 inserted therein. In some embodiments, theadditional content 908 may comprise one or more advertisements. When theportions of content 904 and 906 are played sequentially, the firstsequence of frames 904 plays and displays the inserted additionalcontent 908, and then the second sequence of frames 906 plays. Whenplayed, the portions of content 904 and 906 and the inserted additionalcontent 908 are displayed on a user's display screen. An examplescenario of such an embodiment is a model where a video having anadvertisement inserted therein using the above described technology isplayed before primary content, such as a movie, TV show, documentary,music video, news program, etc.

Thus, in order for the user to view the second portion or item ofcontent 906 he or she must first view the first portion or item ofcontent 904, which includes viewing the inserted additional content 908,which may comprise an advertisement. That is, the user does not getaccess to the second portion or item of content 906 until he or shefirst views the first portion or item of content 904. In this way, anadvertisement in the form of the additional content 908 may be playedbefore the user gets access to the second portion or item of content906, which in some embodiments may comprise an item of main primarycontent.

In some embodiments, the user is provided an option during the playingof the first sequence of frames 904 to skip the inserted additionalcontent 908. In some embodiments, the skip option skips only theinserted additional content 908 and then continues playing the remainderof the first sequence of frames 904 before playing the second sequenceof frames 906. In some embodiments, the skip option skips the insertedadditional content 908 as well as the remainder of the first sequence offrames 904, and then begins playing again at the beginning of the secondsequence of frames 906. That is, the skip option skips forward to thesecond sequence of frames 906. In either embodiment, the skip optionskips at least the inserted additional content 908. Thus, skipping theinserted additional content 908 shall mean skipping only the insertedadditional content 908 and then continuing playing the remainder of thefirst sequence of frames 904, and/or it shall mean skipping forward tothe second sequence of frames 906.

In some embodiments, the option to skip the inserted additional content908 is provided to the user after an elapsed amount of time. Thus, theuser is required to watch the inserted additional content 908 for atleast the elapsed amount of time. An example scenario of such anembodiment is a model where a video having an advertisement insertedtherein using the above described technology is played before primarycontent, and where the user is provided an option to skip theadvertisement after an elapsed amount of time. The elapsed amount oftime may comprise any amount of time.

In some embodiments, the option to skip the inserted additional content908 is provided to the user in response to the user clicking onsomething on the user's screen. For example, in some embodiments theuser may be required to click on the inserted additional content 908when it is displayed in order to trigger the option to skip it. Or, insome embodiments, the user may be required to click on something else inorder to trigger the option to skip the inserted additional content 908.An example scenario of such an embodiment is a model where a videohaving an advertisement inserted therein using the above describedtechnology is played before primary content, and where the user isprovided an option to skip the advertisement after clicking onsomething, such as the advertisement as it is displayed on the user'sscreen. That is, the user clicks somewhere to go directly into theprimary content. The user does not have to click on the advertisement,the user just has to click somewhere.

In some embodiments, the first portion or item of content 904 may beplayed while the second portion or item of content 906 is beingbuffered. Furthermore, in some embodiments the option to skip theinserted additional content 908 is not provided to the user until thebuffer for the second portion or item of content 906 is at a suitablelevel. Thus, if the user has slow bandwidth, he or she might not be ableto skip the additional content 908. That is, the entire first portion oritem of content 904 including the additional content 908 might playbefore the buffer is at a suitable level with the second portion or itemof content 906. In contrast, if the user has fast bandwidth, then he orshe will probably be able to skip the additional content 908 quicker.

Thus, in some embodiments, the option to skip the inserted additionalcontent 908 is delayed and is not provided to the user right away. Forexample, in some embodiments, the option to skip the inserted additionalcontent 908 is provided to the user based on the buffer state or thebuffering progress of the second portion or item of content 906, whichmay comprise the primary content. In some embodiments, the option toskip the inserted additional content 908 is provided to the user basedon business conditions or commercial conditions. For example, if theinserted additional content 908 comprises an advertisement, and thebusiness conditions suggest that viewing of the advertisement should beincreased, then the delay in providing the option to skip the insertedadditional content 908 could be increased in order to force the viewerto watch more of the advertisement.

In some embodiments, the ability to adjust the amount of delay inproviding users with the option to skip the inserted additional content908 may help advertisers measure how much advertising consumers willtolerate.

In some embodiments, the additional content 908 is instead inserted intothe second portion or item of content 906 and not the first portion oritem of content 904, with the second portion or item of content 906comprising the main primary content. In some embodiments, the firstportion or item of content 904 may itself comprise a traditionaladvertisement and still include an option to skip the portion 904. Ifthe user exercises such option to skip, then the second portion or itemof content 906 would play, which would include playing the insertedadditional content 908, which may comprise an advertisement.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments one or more of the abovedescribed steps of identifying a first area of interest, identifying aninsertion area, and inserting additional content may be performed inreal time while a user is watching the content play. In some embodimentsthis also includes providing the option to skip in real time while auser is watching the content play.

In some embodiments, one or more of such steps may be performed innon-real time. For example, one or more of the above described steps ofidentifying a first area of interest, identifying an insertion area, andinserting additional content may be performed before the content isplayed for a user. For example, a first sequence of frames may beplayed, wherein the first sequence of frames includes an advertisementinserted into a scene depicted by at least some of the frames in thefirst sequence of frames. Then, a second sequence of frames may beplayed after the first sequence of frames, and a skip option may also beprovided. In some embodiments, prior to the playing of the first andsecond sequence of frames, the advertisement is inserted into the scenein the first sequence of frames by a process that may includeidentifying one or more faces in the scene using a face recognitiontechnique, designating at least one of the identified faces collectivelyas a first area of interest, and inserting the advertisement into aninsertion area in the scene that does not obstruct the first area ofinterest.

The methods and techniques described herein may be utilized, implementedand/or run on many different types of systems, computers, graphicsworkstations, televisions, set-top boxes, cable boxes, entertainmentsystems, game consoles, video game systems, DVD players, DVRs, mediaplayers, home servers, video game consoles, and the like, and any othertype of processor based systems or apparatuses. Referring to FIG. 10,there is illustrated a system 1000 that may be used for any suchimplementations. One or more components of the system 1000 may be usedfor implementing any system mentioned above. However, the use of thesystem 1000 or any portion thereof is certainly not required.

By way of example, the system 1000 may include, but is not required toinclude, a central processing unit (CPU) 1002, a graphics processingunit (GPU) 1004, digital differential analysis (DDA) hardware 1006, arandom access memory (RAM) 1008, and a mass storage unit 1010, such as adisk drive. The system 1000 may be coupled to, or integrated with, adisplay 1012, such as for example any type of display, including any ofthe types of displays mentioned herein. The system 1000 comprises anexample of a processor based system and/or a processor based apparatus.Not all of the illustrated components of the system 1000 are requiredfor such a processor based system and/or a processor based apparatus.

The CPU 1002 and/or GPU 1004 may be used to execute or assist inexecuting the steps of the methods and techniques described herein, andvarious program content, images, videos, etc. may be rendered on thedisplay 1012. Removable storage media 1014 may optionally be used withthe mass storage unit 1010, which may be used for storing code thatimplements the methods and techniques described herein. However, any ofthe storage devices, such as the RAM 1008 or mass storage unit 1010, maybe used for storing such code. Furthermore, any of the storage devices,such as the RAM 1008 or mass storage unit 1010, may be used for storingthe database described above. Either all or a portion of the system 1000may be embodied in any type of device, such as for example a computer,workstation, television, video game console or system, or any other typeof device, including any type of device mentioned herein.

An input device (not shown) may also be included and may comprise anytype of input device or input technique or method. For example, theinput device may comprise a game controller, game pad, joystick, mouse,wand, or other input devices and/or input techniques. The input devicemay be wireless or wired, e.g. it may be wirelessly coupled to thesystem 1000 or comprise a wired connection.

The mass storage unit 1010 may include or comprise any type of computerreadable storage or recording medium or media. The computer readablestorage or recording medium or media may be fixed in the mass storageunit 1010, or the mass storage unit 1010 may optionally includeremovable storage media 1014, such as a digital video disk (DVD),Blu-ray disc, compact disk (CD), USB storage device, floppy disk, orother media. By way of example, the mass storage unit 1010 may comprisea disk drive, a hard disk drive, flash memory device, USB storagedevice, Blu-ray disc drive, DVD drive, CD drive, floppy disk drive, etc.The mass storage unit 1010 or removable storage media 1014 may be usedfor storing code or macros that implement the methods and techniquesdescribed herein.

Thus, removable storage media 1014 may optionally be used with the massstorage unit 1010, which may be used for storing program or computercode that implements the methods and techniques described herein, suchas program code for running the above-described methods and techniques.However, any of the storage devices, such as the RAM 1008 or massstorage unit 1010, may be used for storing such code. For example, anyof such storage devices may serve as a tangible non-transitory computerreadable storage medium for storing or embodying a computer program orsoftware application for causing a console, system, computer, client,server, or other processor based apparatus or system to execute orperform the steps of any of the methods, code, and/or techniquesdescribed herein. Furthermore, any of the storage devices, such as theRAM 1008 or mass storage unit 1010, may be used for storing any neededdatabase(s).

In some embodiments, one or more of the embodiments, methods,approaches, and/or techniques described above may be implemented in oneor more computer programs or software applications executable by aprocessor based apparatus or system. By way of example, such processorbased system may comprise the processor based apparatus or system 1000,or a computer, entertainment system, game console, graphics workstation,server, client, portable device, pad-like device, etc. Such computerprogram(s) may be used for executing various steps and/or features ofthe above-described methods and/or techniques. That is, the computerprogram(s) may be adapted to cause or configure a processor basedapparatus or system to execute and achieve the functions describedabove. For example, such computer program(s) may be used forimplementing any embodiment of the above-described methods, steps,techniques, or features. As another example, such computer program(s)may be used for implementing any type of tool or similar utility thatuses any one or more of the above described embodiments, methods,approaches, and/or techniques. In some embodiments, one or more suchcomputer programs may comprise a computer game, video game, role-playinggame (RPG), other computer simulation, or system software such as anoperating system, BIOS, macro, or other utility. In some embodiments,program code macros, modules, loops, subroutines, calls, etc., within orwithout the computer program(s) may be used for executing various stepsand/or features of the above-described methods and/or techniques. Insome embodiments, the computer program(s) may be stored or embodied on acomputer readable storage or recording medium or media, such as any ofthe computer readable storage or recording medium or media describedherein.

Therefore, in some embodiments the present invention provides a computerprogram product comprising a medium for embodying a computer program forinput to a computer and a computer program embodied in the medium forcausing the computer to perform or execute steps comprising any one ormore of the steps involved in any one or more of the embodiments,methods, approaches, and/or techniques described herein. For example, insome embodiments the present invention provides one or morenon-transitory computer readable storage mediums storing one or morecomputer programs adapted to cause a processor based apparatus or systemto execute steps comprising: analyzing an image; identifying one or morefaces in the image using a face recognition technique; designating atleast one of the identified faces collectively as a first area ofinterest; and determining whether an insertion area exists in the imagewhere additional content can be inserted without obstructing the firstarea of interest.

In some embodiments the present invention provides one or morenon-transitory computer readable storage mediums storing one or morecomputer programs adapted to cause a processor based system to executesteps comprising: analyzing a sequence of frames of content; identifyinga first area of interest in a scene depicted by the sequence of framesthat should not be obstructed from being viewed; determining whether aninsertion area exists in the scene where additional content can beinserted without obstructing the first area of interest; and determiningwhether the insertion area can be divided into two or more regions basedon color.

In some embodiments the present invention provides one or morenon-transitory computer readable storage mediums storing one or morecomputer programs adapted to cause a processor based system to executesteps comprising: analyzing a first sequence of frames of content;identifying one or more faces in a scene depicted by the first sequenceof frames using a face recognition technique;

designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a firstarea of interest; and determining whether an insertion area exists inthe scene where additional content can be inserted without obstructingthe first area of interest.

In some embodiments the present invention provides one or morenon-transitory computer readable storage mediums storing one or morecomputer programs adapted to cause a processor based system to executesteps comprising: playing a first sequence of frames, wherein the firstsequence of frames includes an advertisement inserted into a scenedepicted by at least some of the frames in the first sequence of frames;and playing a second sequence of frames after the first sequence offrames; wherein the advertisement was inserted into the scene in thefirst sequence of frames by a process that includes, identifying one ormore faces in the scene using a face recognition technique; designatingat least one of the identified faces collectively as a first area ofinterest; and inserting the advertisement into an insertion area in thescene that does not obstruct the first area of interest.

In some embodiments the present invention provides a processor basedsystem or a processor based apparatus that is configured to executesteps comprising any one or more steps of the above-described methods,approaches, and/or techniques. For example, in some embodiments thepresent invention provides a processor based apparatus that isconfigured to execute steps comprising: analyzing an image; identifyingone or more faces in the image using a face recognition technique;

designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a firstarea of interest; and determining whether an insertion area exists inthe image where additional content can be inserted without obstructingthe first area of interest.

In some embodiments the present invention provides a processor basedapparatus that is configured to execute steps comprising: analyzing asequence of frames of content; identifying a first area of interest in ascene depicted by the sequence of frames that should not be obstructedfrom being viewed; determining whether an insertion area exists in thescene where additional content can be inserted without obstructing thefirst area of interest; and determining whether the insertion area canbe divided into two or more regions based on color.

In some embodiments the present invention provides a processor basedapparatus that is configured to execute steps comprising: analyzing afirst sequence of frames of content; identifying one or more faces in ascene depicted by the first sequence of frames using a face recognitiontechnique; designating at least one of the identified faces collectivelyas a first area of interest; and determining whether an insertion areaexists in the scene where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modificationsand variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer readable storage mediumstoring one or more computer programs adapted to cause a processor basedsystem to execute steps comprising: analyzing an image; identifying oneor more faces in the image using a face recognition technique;designating at least one of the identified faces collectively as a firstarea of interest; and determining whether an insertion area exists inthe image where additional content can be inserted without obstructingthe first area of interest.
 2. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 1, wherein the step of designating at least oneof the identified faces collectively as a first area of interestcomprises: determining a size of each of the identified faces; andselecting the at least one of the identified faces to be included in thefirst area of interest based on the sizes of the identified faces. 3.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2, whereinthe selecting the at least one of the identified faces to be included inthe first area of interest based on the sizes of the identified facescomprises: identifying a largest one of the identified faces; selectingthe largest one of the identified faces and only ones of the identifiedfaces that are not smaller than a certain percentage of the largest oneof the identified faces.
 4. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 3, wherein the certain percentage is designated by auser.
 5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1,wherein the one or more computer programs are further adapted to causethe processor based system to execute steps comprising: inserting theadditional content into the insertion area.
 6. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or morecomputer programs are further adapted to cause the processor basedsystem to execute steps comprising: determining whether the insertionarea can be divided into two or more regions based on color.
 7. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein theone or more computer programs are further adapted to cause the processorbased system to execute steps comprising: dividing the insertion areainto two or more regions based on color; and inserting the additionalcontent into one of the two or more regions such that the additionalcontent is completely contained within the one of the two or moreregions.
 8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim1, wherein the image comprises one frame in a sequence of frames ofcontent.
 9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim8, wherein: the identifying one or more faces in the image comprisesidentifying one or more faces in a scene depicted by the sequence offrames; and the determining whether an insertion area exists in theimage where additional content can be inserted without obstructing thefirst area of interest comprises determining whether an insertion areaexists in the scene where additional content can be inserted withoutobstructing the first area of interest.
 10. The non-transitory computerreadable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more computerprograms are further adapted to cause the processor based system toexecute steps comprising: determining an amount of time that theinsertion area is available when the sequence of frames is being played.11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9,wherein the one or more computer programs are further adapted to causethe processor based system to execute steps comprising: determining asize of the insertion area.
 12. A non-transitory computer readablestorage medium storing one or more computer programs adapted to cause aprocessor based system to execute steps comprising: analyzing a sequenceof frames of content; identifying a first area of interest in a scenedepicted by the sequence of frames that should not be obstructed frombeing viewed; determining whether an insertion area exists in the scenewhere additional content can be inserted without obstructing the firstarea of interest; and determining whether the insertion area can bedivided into two or more regions based on color.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the one or morecomputer programs are further adapted to cause the processor basedsystem to execute steps comprising: dividing the insertion area into twoor more regions based on color; and inserting the additional contentinto one of the two or more regions such that the additional content iscompletely contained within the one of the two or more regions.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein theone or more computer programs are further adapted to cause the processorbased system to execute steps comprising: selecting the additionalcontent at least partly based on a color of the one of the two or moreregions.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 13, wherein the inserting the additional content into one of thetwo or more regions such that the additional content is completelycontained within the one of the two or more regions comprises:maintaining a buffer area between the additional content and an edge ofthe one of the two or more regions.
 16. The non-transitory computerreadable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the inserting theadditional content into one of the two or more regions such that theadditional content is completely contained within the one of the two ormore regions comprises: placing the additional content so that it isfixed in the one of the two or more regions in the scene and is notallowed to move in the scene.
 17. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein the inserting the additional contentinto one of the two or more regions such that the additional content iscompletely contained within the one of the two or more regionscomprises: placing the additional content so that it is allowed to movewithin the one of the two or more regions in the scene.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein theidentifying a first area of interest in a scene depicted by the sequenceof frames that should not be obstructed from being viewed comprises:identifying one or more faces in the scene using a face recognitiontechnique.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 12, wherein the identifying a first area of interest in a scenedepicted by the sequence of frames that should not be obstructed frombeing viewed comprises: identifying areas in the scene having activity.20. A method, comprising: analyzing a first sequence of frames ofcontent; identifying one or more faces in a scene depicted by the firstsequence of frames using a face recognition technique; designating atleast one of the identified faces collectively as a first area ofinterest; and determining whether an insertion area exists in the scenewhere additional content can be inserted without obstructing the firstarea of interest.
 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:inserting the additional content into the insertion area in the scenedepicted by the first sequence of frames.
 22. The method of claim 21,wherein the content further comprises a second sequence of framesfollowing the first sequence of frames.
 23. The method of claim 22,further comprising: playing the content so that the first sequence offrames plays and displays the inserted additional content and then thesecond sequence of frames plays.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein theplaying the content further comprises: providing an option to a userduring the first sequence of frames to skip the inserted additionalcontent.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the option to skip theinserted additional content is provided to the user after an elapsedamount of time.
 26. The method of claim 24, wherein the option to skipthe inserted additional content is provided to the user in response tothe user clicking on something on the user's screen.
 27. A processorbased apparatus receiving and playing the content processed by themethod of claim
 20. 28. The processor based apparatus of claim 27,wherein the processor based apparatus comprises any one or more of aset-top box, cable box, entertainment system, game console, computer,and television.
 29. A processor based apparatus receiving and playingthe content processed by the method of claim
 21. 30. The processor basedapparatus of claim 29, wherein the processor based apparatus comprisesany one or more of a set-top box, cable box, entertainment system, gameconsole, computer, and television.
 31. A method, comprising: analyzing asequence of frames of content; identifying a first area of interest in ascene depicted by the sequence of frames that should not be obstructedfrom being viewed; determining whether an insertion area exists in thescene where additional content can be inserted without obstructing thefirst area of interest; and determining whether the insertion area canbe divided into two or more regions based on color.
 32. The method ofclaim 31, further comprising: dividing the insertion area into two ormore regions based on color; and inserting the additional content intoone of the two or more regions such that the additional content iscompletely contained within the one of the two or more regions.
 33. Aprocessor based apparatus receiving and playing the content processed bythe method of claim
 31. 34. The processor based apparatus of claim 33,wherein the processor based apparatus comprises any one or more of aset-top box, cable box, entertainment system, game console, computer,and television.
 35. A processor based apparatus receiving and playingthe content processed by the method of claim
 32. 36. The processor basedapparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor based apparatus comprisesany one or more of a set-top box, cable box, entertainment system, gameconsole, computer, and television.
 37. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium storing one or more computer programs adapted tocause a processor based system to execute steps comprising: playing afirst sequence of frames, wherein the first sequence of frames includesan advertisement inserted into a scene depicted by at least some of theframes in the first sequence of frames; and playing a second sequence offrames after the first sequence of frames; wherein the advertisement wasinserted into the scene in the first sequence of frames by a processthat includes, identifying one or more faces in the scene using a facerecognition technique; designating at least one of the identified facescollectively as a first area of interest; and inserting theadvertisement into an insertion area in the scene that does not obstructthe first area of interest.
 38. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 37, wherein the one or more computer programsare further adapted to cause the processor based system to execute stepscomprising: providing an option to a user during the playing of thefirst sequence of frames to skip the advertisement.
 39. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 38, wherein theoption to skip the advertisement is provided to the user after anelapsed amount of time.
 40. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 38, wherein the option to skip the advertisement isprovided to the user in response to the user clicking on something onthe user's screen.